


Potential

by afropuffchan



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-09
Updated: 2010-10-09
Packaged: 2017-10-12 13:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/125205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afropuffchan/pseuds/afropuffchan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ozai gazes at his infant son and thinks of the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Potential

Title:  Potential

Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender

Characters: Ozai, Ursa, Zuko

Prompt: 022 – Grin

Word Count: 465

Rating:  PG

Summary: Ozai gazes at his infant son and thinks of the future.

 

 

“You can come closer. He won’t bite, you know,” a smiling Ursa told her husband who stood a distance away from the bed. “It’s not like babies are born with teeth.”

 

Ozai frowned, walking over toward where she reclined while holding their infant son. “I know that,” he said in a huff, unfolding his arms as he approached. “I haven’t much skill with children.” The boy was just a few days old, and seemed to mainly sleep and eat. And scream. Loudly.

 

Ursa’s smile deepened as he sat on the edge of the large bed to gaze at Zuko. She didn’t tell Ozai how much his expression resembled a pout. “I don’t have much experience either. My mother thinks it’s something that just comes to you when you become a parent, an instinct buried inside of you that one taps into, but I’m not so sure.” She smiled up at him as she cradled their precious bundle. “I guess we can be nervous together.”

 

“I’m not nervous,” Ozai insisted with annoyance, but his face told a different story when she shifted to place his son in his arms. “Perhaps this isn’t a good idea,” he told her as he held Zuko stiffly. The jostling, however gentle it had been, had caused the child to stir. And the boy usually took being woken from a deep sleep about as well as Ozai did, which was not well at all.

 

“You’re doing fine,” Ursa told him to sooth the alarm written across his face at holding such a young child. “He won’t break. And I’m sure he wants to be held by his father.” She made adjustments so that he was cradling their child properly.

 

The reassuring smile Ursa gave him made Ozai frown briefly. He hated how awkward he must seem to her. It felt too much like weakness. But somehow this was soon forgotten as the bundle in his arms shifted again. He was soon gazing down into heavy-lidded golden eyes that looked much like his own before they closed again, Zuko shifting to nuzzle sleepily against his father’s chest. Despite himself, Ozai couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face at the warm weight in his arms.

 

As he held Zuko close, Ozai’s mind began to wander toward what might be in store for the child. He wondered which of them Zuko would resemble more closely as he grew up and what his personality would be like. He wondered how strong a firebender the boy would become and how fierce he would be in battle. He wondered if Zuko would grow to make him proud. As visions danced behind Ozai’s eyes, there seemed to be no limit to what heights the boy could reach while he lay nestled in his father’s arms.

 

End

 


End file.
